Rates are Great ~ Carpe Diem!

This week our new President Obama was inaugurated, and our hope for a brighter future renewed. With that in mind, follow these links for your neighborhood market reports:Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Bucktown/Wicker Park.

Enclosed are the sales statistics for condominiums and town homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service in Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Bucktown and Wicker Park. To get broader perspective in reviewing this data, I also compared sales data from CAR (Chicago Association Realtors) which includes buildings of all ages and sizes.

As you might expect, sales volume for condominiums and town homes has gone down and market time has gone up for Lincoln Park, Bucktown and Wicker Park. Lakeview however, went up in sales volume and down in market time by just over a month.

In reviewing the condominium, town home and single family home sales data for Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Bucktown and Wicker Park from CAR for 4th quarter in 2007 and 2008, volume is down there too. However, single family homes in Lincoln Park and Lakeview have gone up in average sale and median home price, as well as a faster market time. I believe that’s a sign of good things to come. We live in a great city with great services, parks and transportation, as well as a growing number of great schools.

We are in a Buyer’s market, and there are transactions happening. Lenders are able to close loans.

If you are wondering if now is a good time to trade up to your next home, the answer is yes. While you may not net as much from the sale of your home, the savings on the larger home will offset the loss on your current home.

Interest rates are great! Remember that markets ebb and flow, and the bottom of the market is shaped like a U, not a V. Even a 10% drop in home prices is wiped out by a 1% increase interest rate on a 30 year mortgage. Don’t wait; you will likely miss the market.

Contact me for your own market analysis or comprehensive statistics throughout the city for single family homes, multi-unit buildings, condominiums and town homes.

On This Day! Yes We Can!

Barack Obama became our president. What an amazing day! I am proud to be an American. We have a lot of work ahead to get our country going again, and we have a great leader who will inspire us to get the job done. Today was a day to remember. Yeah!

Go GREEN! Save your pennies! Get an energy audit?

Old Man Winter’s has settled in, and times are tight. If you are looking to cut costs, you may want to consider an energy audit. Our local electricity provider Commonwealth Edison doesn’t offer this service, but they do offer their Home Energy Analysis Tool.

If you decide to get a professional in to check your home, I recommend visiting the Illinois Association of Energy Raters. You can find a certified service provider to analyze your home. Energy loss isn’t always appliances; older window or mechanical systems, there are other ways your home can lose energy. An energy audit or energy rating service can determine the overall efficiency of your home and help determine ways it can become more energy efficient. Not only will you save money every month, you can even find ways to make your home more marketable by going GREEN. You can find out how to get and Energy Star rating for your home, making your home eligible for certain loans and tax benefits for the rating.

It takes a few minutes to do your homework, but the benefits are worth it!

Homeowner Tax Exemption ~ Take it!

Every time I meet a new client, I ask them if they took the Homeowner Exemption. About half the time, I receive a puzzled look. Many people don’t know what it is. The Homeowner Exemption is a property tax exemption for Cook County that a homeowner is eligible for from the beginning of a calendar year, if they were occupying the property as their primary residence. Other counties have similar exemptions, so you can check with your local assessor’s office.

There are a few things that you will need to take note of. Remember that Illinois is taxed one year in arrears. To be eligible for the exemption, you must own the property since January 1st for the year in question. You can check if the exemption was applied with the Cook County Treasurer.

In some cases, the prior owner didn’t take the exemption either because it was new construction or new rehab without a PIN (permanent index number), rented out, or just didn’t know to apply for the exemption. You will need to check with the Cook County Assessor to find your PIN. The exemption must also be filed each year the property is reassessed, and currently Illinois is reassessed on a triennial basis (every third year.)

This can be a consideration if you are looking to buy or sell. If a home’s property taxes look higher than others you are considering, the seller may not have taken the exemption. When a seller has not taken the exemption, a buyer can ask the seller to apply for it as part of the terms negotiated into a sales contract. Most sellers are happy to do it. Chances are that if they didn’t take the exemption for several years, they will have a refund coming back to them once they file the appeal with a Certificate of Error.

Take the exemption if you are eligible!